Jack In A Box
by Sixty Five Roses
Summary: Sharon agrees to let Jack stay with her after a flood ruined his apartment, but Andy is less than satisfied. Things become worse when all of Sharon's attempts to fix the situation fail.
**A/N** **:** I wrote this fic for a prompt from bella-stelle: _"Sharon and Andy have a terrible fight, maybe about Jack coming back and Sharon falling into old habits, enabling it and she's worried they can't get through it"_.

 **Trigger warning : **This story deals with addiction and also includes verbal abuse.

* * *

Things were always bound to go bad when Jack Raydor was around. It was like an unwritten law of nature and somehow, regardless of how horrible his presence could be, Sharon always fell into the traps that he set for her, and after 30 years of marriage and 1 year of being divorced, she still found herself entangled with his issues and problems. That was exactly how she ended up agreeing to let him stay on her couch once again, even though she was no longer obligated to be there for him when he got into trouble.

Andy couldn't be any less thrilled with the presence of Sharon's self-destructive ex-husband than he was, and even though it was none of his business who Sharon was hosting in her living room, he made his dissatisfaction known.

"I can't believe you're buying into his bullshit," he exclaimed and let out a loud huff.

"Come on, Andy. Why would he make something like that up? What's in my living room that's so alluring to Jack that he would pretend that a burst pipe caused a flood in his apartment?" Sharon argued.

"Oh, come on, Sharon. You are much smarter than that. Jack is never innocent. He's manipulating you, and you know it," Andy frowned.

"Andy, what am I supposed to do? He has nowhere to live, and he's the father of my children. How do you think they will feel if he ends up homeless just because I didn't help him?"

"Are these really your words coming out of your mouth or his? Because to me it sounds like the words of an addict trying to manipulate his ex-wife to support his addiction once again."

"This has nothing to do with Jack's addiction. His house was ruined and I'm letting him stay at my place until he can fix the damage or find another place to stay," Sharon explained.

"So in other words, until Jack decides to leave, you're stuck with him and that means we don't get any privacy when I come over, which really means I can't come over at all, because Jack would have a lot to say about that, and…" Sharon placed her hand on his chest and Andy paused.

"Enough. I'm not going to argue about it any longer. Jack stays until the damage in his apartment is fixed, and that is that," she said sternly. She noticed the way Andy's jaw tightened and his face reddened in anger. The fury in his eyes did not escape her and she felt her skin tingling unpleasantly. Andy removed her hand from his chest the same way a person removes an annoying bug off their wall, and then turned around and left her office, leaving her behind with a stunned expression on her face.

* * *

Sharon regretted very few things in her life. She never regretted knowing Jack and marrying him, because he gave her two amazing children. She never regretted becoming a police officer, because she really loved her job. She never regretted her divorce, because her marriage was a thing of the past for longer than she cared to admit. She did, however, regret letting Jack stay with her after the damage to his apartment. She never thought Jack's presence at her house will cause such a rift between Andy and her. The first day after their argument on the subject, Andy ignored anything she said that wasn't work related. Realizing that he was still angry with her, she thought it would be wise to give him a chance to cool off a little. When he kept ignoring her advances the next two days, and also failed to respond her text messages or answer her calls, she realized just how angry he was with her. To say that his behavior didn't offend her would be a lie, and she wished she knew how to fix the issues between them without asking Jack to leave, which she certainly hoped he will do soon, as she was no longer comfortable with his presence at her home. In fact, home felt much less like home with him in it.

Friday was usually the night she went out with Andy. Usually, they had a reservation to a restaurant they both chose a few days prior, and he would pick her up at 6, if they didn't get stuck at work. They had made a reservation a day before their fight, and as a notification of the time and place of their scheduled outing popped up on her iPhone screen, Sharon decided that Andy and her could use their weekly outing in order to talk and try to mend their relationship.

"Andy, can I please see you in my office for a moment?" she asked and he unwillingly followed her into her office. She closed the door behind them and shut the blinds before she walked to her desk and leaned against it.

"What do you want, Sharon?" Andy's asked with annoyance.

"I think we need to talk," Sharon replied.

"As long as your scoundrel ex-husband is staying with you, there's nothing for us to talk about," Andy retorted and began walking towards the door.

"Andy, please wait a moment. We still have a reservation at 'La Bella Venezia' this Friday. Let's just meet there and figure it out," Sharon offered. Andy shook his head and reached for the door knob and Sharon took a deep breath. "I'll be there tomorrow at 7, in case you change your mind," she said before he left her office.

* * *

Sharon stared at the menu for almost 30 minutes before she accepted the fact that Andy wasn't going to show up for their outing. She sighed before motioning the waiter over and placing her order, a dish that Andy enjoyed immensely on the last time they were at La Bella Venezia and a glass of wine that she felt she really needed to have tonight. With Jack in the house, she made sure to hide all the liquor and with the situation between Andy and her being so tangled up, she felt like a little bit of alcohol would help her relax.

When she left the restaurant an hour later, she was feeling a little better with her quiet Friday night dinner. Even though she definitely preferred to spend that time in Andy's company, some time alone and away from Jack was also quite satisfying and improved her mood.

It was only when she unlocked the door to her condo that she realized something was wrong. The blood stain on her living room floor, accompanied by the crushing noise that came from her bedroom made her draw her gun. As she walked down the hall, she prayed Rusty wasn't home. After he carefully peeked into her bedroom, she realized it was Jack and she placed her gun in its holster again.

"What are you doing in my bedroom?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh, hey, Shar-on!" Jack replied happily. By the rosiness of his cheeks and his glazed eyes, she could tell her was drunk. There was a long scratch on one of his cheeks covered with crusted blood. Sharon assumed that he fell on his way to the bedroom. "It's so good that you're finally back!"

"I can't believe that you're drunk again!" Sharon exclaimed.

"I was thirsty," he smiled stupidly and walked towards her. "And you have quite a stash of booze in your underwear drawer!" He giggled like the idiot that he was.

"What are you doing in my bedroom? And how dare you look through my underwear drawer?" Sharon called out.

"It's not like I haven't seen your panties before," Jack grinned. "Although I have to admit, your taste in lingerie has improved significantly." He pulled a purple silk and lace panties out of the pocket of his jeans and twirled it around his index finger, whistling twice. "I take it that Andy doesn't settle for cotton bikinis like I had to, huh?"

"Jack, give me that!" Sharon reached forward to snatch her panties from Jack, but he pulled it back.

"Seriously though, you never even considered wearing lace panties just for special occasions when we were married, and Andy gets to see you wearing silk and lace thongs?" Jack held the panties in front of him with a smile. "I'm trying to imagine you in these, but I think you'd have to put them on for me to actually visualize it." He flashed a wide smile to her. "Would you?" he asked and his voice was sickeningly sweet.

"Absolutely not!" Sharon felt her cheeks becoming red with anger.

"I knew you wouldn't. You never wore anything that nice for me. I should have known better than marrying a prude virgin!" Jack exclaimed. "Remember that one time when we were still dating and I tried to touch your breasts when we kissed?" a smirk spread across his face as he reminisced. "You slapped me, but secretly you wanted me to go on."

"Jack, leave my bedroom this instant and start packing your belongings. You're leaving!" Sharon's voice was just below a scream.

"No, I can't. I gotta find it," Jack said and walked into Sharon's closet. "Where did you put it?"

"Jack, get out of my closet right now!" Sharon commanded him, but he kept rummaging through her clothes.

"Maybe you put it in one of your shoes!" he waved his index finger as the idea crossed his mind. He bent down and picked a Jimmy Choo pump and began rattling it upside down and pushing his fingers inside it, as if he was trying to catch something inside.

"Jack, stop!" Sharon screamed in horror when he tossed the shoe backwards. She picked up the battered pump and hugged it before placing it on one of the shelves. "Stop going through my things and get out of my closet!" Another shoe came flying over Jack's shoulder and she caught it midair.

"Then why don't you just tell me where you put it?" he retorted.

"What the hell do you think I'm hiding in here?" Sharon felt tears stinging her eyes as she watched her intoxicated ex-husband abusing her designer shoes one by one, looking for God-knows-what.

"A-ha!" Jack exclaimed as he noticed a small jewelry box on one of the shelves and opened it, rummaging inside wildly.

"Get out of my jewelry box, Jack. I'm serious," Sharon warned him.

"What are you gonna do, shoot me?" he asked and for a brief moment, Sharon considered the idea. "Oh, it's not here," he let out a dramatic sigh when he couldn't find whatever he was looking for. "Where did you put it?" his tone was accusatory as he turned to face her.

"Where did I put what, Jack?" Sharon asked in frustration.

"Your wedding ring. I need it, right now. I need to sell it, so I can afford to rent a new apartment," Jack explained as if it was the most reasonable thing ever.

"Yesterday you said the flood damages at your apartment were being fixed," Sharon narrowed her eyes.

"What flood damages?" Jack looked at her with a confused expression. "Angelique kicked me out. She thought I was… it's a funny story actually, she thought I was seeing another woman."

"I should have known," Sharon sighed, feeling a stab of disappointment in her chest. After so many years of dealing with his deceit, how did she not realize he had lied to her again? Turning around, she walked out of the closet and approached her night stand, pulling the drawer open and taking a big jewelry box out. She placed it on her bed and opened it, quickly locating and pulling the 31 years old wedding ring out of it. It was a simple and thin golden band that was all they could afford when they got married. Sharon was sure that he had a matching ring, and he still wore it when he returned from Vegas 2 years earlier. It was gone now and Sharon assumed he sold or pawned it, as he intended to do with hers. "Here is my wedding ring," she walked over to him and handed it to him.

"Oh, here it is!" The greedy expression on Jack's face when he reached for the ring reminded Sharon of that Gollum character in a fantasy film she and Rusty watched a while ago.

"You can sell it if you want, but it's completely worthless."

"It's actually worth about a $100 dollars," he informed her, not catching the meaning behind her words.

"Good for you," Sharon replied bitterly. "Give me my underwear, please." She opened her palm and Jack unwillingly pulled the lacey piece out of his jeans pocket and placed it in her hand. "I'm gonna get you a room at the Best Western for tonight, and a cab to take you there. Now go and pack your stuff," she said and Jack left her bedroom with a spring in his step, as if he won a million dollars. Sharon took a shuddering breath and picked her phone up to book a room for him.

* * *

The knock on the door made Andy jump from the couch as if he was bitten by a snake. He let out a long exhale and rolled his eyes as he realized that he fell asleep in front of the TV. Pushing himself off the couch, he threw a glance at his watch and walked towards the door. He must have only caught a short nap, because it wasn't very late. He opened the door, surprised to find Sharon standing in front of him, wearing a purple dress with thin straps and heart neckline. Her hair was falling on her shoulders in soft, loose curls.

"You stood me up," she said, her tone flirtatious.

"Yeah, maybe now you know how it feels when a person you love does things that they know will hurt your feelings," Andy said. Sharon couldn't help but holding her breath at his words. Did he really just say he loved her?

"I just tried to help him, Andy. I never meant to hurt your feelings," she replied.

"Is he gone now?" Andy asked.

"Yes, he raided my closet, so I asked him to leave," she shrugged, trying to make it sound much more amusing than it really was. Andy moved from the doorway and let her into his house.

"He fell off the wagon again, huh?" he didn't need her to say the words in order to tell that was the real reason she kicked Jack out of her condo.

"More like jumped off it and waved goodbye as it was driving away," Sharon sighed.

"I'm sorry," Andy couldn't help but feeling bad for her. She has dealt with Jack and his issues for far too long.

"I don't think I've ever seen him in such a bad condition when he was drunk before. He was scary," Sharon admitted.

"Did he hurt you?" The concerned look in Andy's eyes was very endearing to her.

"No, he didn't touch me. You know I would have shot him if he tried to hurt me," Sharon smiled, trying to pretend she was braver than she felt.

"You care about him way too much to do that," Andy shook his head. "And I know you're trying to hide how terrified you are by whatever he did, but I can see through that façade."

"He… Oh, God, promise me you won't confront him about this, please," Sharon said and Andy responded with a nod. "He went through my underwear drawer, and made some inappropriate comments. He's never spoken to me this way before, no matter how drunk he was. And then he went into my closet and started throwing my clothes and shoes around in an attempt to find my wedding ring so he can sell it." Sharon felt tears slowly rolling down her face as she recalled what had happened between Jack and her only an hour earlier.

"It sounds like a particularly scary relapse, Sharon," Andy commented.

"And it's all my fault. You were right; I should have never let him stay with me. I thought if he was sober, then letting him stay over didn't mean I was enabling him, Andy," she cried and Andy wrapped his arms around her.

"Sharon, have you ever tried going to an Al-Anon meeting?" he asked. Sharon shook her head. "Nicole started attending meetings about 10 years ago and she told me that it helped her a lot. She found a way to stop blaming herself for my addiction. It was a safe place where she could share her feelings about me and my alcoholism. Maybe it would help you too." Sharon didn't respond, but he knew she heard him and that she would consider his suggestion. "How about a cup of tea and some homemade tiramisu?" He offered and Sharon nodded against his chest.

She followed him into the kitchen and watched him as he prepared tea for the two of them and cut a hefty slice of tiramisu for her. After placing the mugs and dessert on the table, he took a seat in front of her.

"You look really good tonight," he said as Sharon dug her spoon into the cake. "I really like your hair like that." Sharon thanked him before putting a spoonful of cake in her mouth, closing her eyes and letting out a moan of satisfaction.

"Are you still angry with me?" she asked a few moments later.

"I know you think that if it's your condo, then you can host whoever you want in it, but now that we are in a relationship, the people in your life are becoming part of my life too and I don't want Jack to be a part of my life. He may be the father of your children, but things always go wrong when he's around," Andy explained.

"You are right, and I'm sorry for not considering your opinion on the matter when I agreed to let him stay over," Sharon's voice shook and she buried her face in her palms. Andy heard a soft sniffle and he reached across the table and gently caressed the side of her arm.

"I forgive you, honey," he said softly. "And I hope you will forgive me for being a jerk to you this week."

"You were rightfully angry," Sharon replied and wiped her eyes.

"Well, I'm not angry anymore, and I'm glad Jack didn't harm you," Andy's voice had the same softness of his fingers caressing her arm. He watched her as she finished the rest of the cake and drained her tea. "You've had a horrible evening, so maybe you should stay over. You can have my bed, I'll sleep in the guest room," he offered.

"I think we're at the stage of our relationship where we can share a bed without worrying what may or may not happen," Sharon replied as she gathered her dessert plate and mug and after giving them a quick rinse, placed them in the dishwasher. Then she followed Andy down the hall into his bedroom. "Can I grab a PJ from your closet?" she asked.

"Sure, you can take anything you like from there," he replied and she quickly found an old Dodgers T-shirt and grabbed it. She removed her dress and her bra and slipped into the shirt. The fabric was soft and comfortable and it had Andy's smell. After making a quick trip to the bathroom to remove her makeup and brush her teeth, she returned to the bedroom and slipped into the bed, curling against Andy's body.

"Thank you for being so sweet, Andy," she said as she tangled her legs with his.

"It's because I love you," he responded and cupped her face, pressing a kiss to her mouth. Sharon felt her skin tingling as goosebumps appeared on her arms. "Are you alright?" Andy asked as he noticed the sudden change in her skin texture.

"Yes, I'm fine. I just love you so much, that's all," she responded and captured his lips between hers for an ardent kiss that left them both breathless and panting.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep after that," Andy said when their lips parted.

"Good, because I thought if we've come that far, maybe we should go a little farther," Sharon replied and took his hand, slipping it under her shirt.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Andy asked.

"They say make up sex is the best sex you'll ever have," Sharon replied with a smirk and Andy didn't need any further encouragement to show Sharon just how much he loved her.

THE END

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 **As always, I'd love to know what you thought about this story, so feel free to leave a comment or send me a PM.**


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